Cornerstones
by Yukitoshuu Itsumademo
Summary: Arnold gets a call early in the morning and it’s Helga. Phoebe’s in the hospital and she needs someone to calm her down. Arnold rushes right over to help but discovers something that will haunt him too.


Cornerstones  
  
By Arnoldnhelga4eva  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own hey arnold.  
  
HI! OMG! I just got done reading Pride and Prejudice! If you can, go read it!!! It's sweeter than the Helga/Arnold relationship which is very similar! It's sooooo sweet! It's by Jane Austen. It's pretty hard to follow, but it's really good. Okay, anywayz, I thought this one up when I heard a song on the radio. If it helps, I have no clue what the song was called. Heh. It was the country station my dad was listening to and I personally hate country music. I'm more into punk/rock music. Yeah, anywayz, here it is. No flames please! (I just had an encounter with my first flame on Letters From Iraq. I was a little depressed, so I wrote this. I'm gonna write an A/N for that to get it clear what the letters were about.)  
  
Okay, enjoy!! (Also, they're Seniors in HS in this fic.)  
  
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Phoebe was the other half that Helga wasn't. She and Helga were like two pieces that needed to be fit together to work. Well, one of those pieces is gone.forever.  
  
I got a frantic phone call that night, two am to be exact. The one person I thought could never crumble, was falling apart on the other line.  
  
"Arnold!" She sobbed. I had no clue who it was at first. I had never heard her voice frantically sobbing before.  
  
"Who is this?"  
  
"It's Helga. Something awful just happened!" She screamed while choking on fresh sobs. It broke my heart that the cornerstone of our class had been shattered. Well, she was one of them. The others were me, Gerald and.  
  
"Phoebe! She's in the hospital! I have to talk to someone!" She cried. It was as if she read my mind on cue. Phoebe was the other cornerstone. With two gone, everything would collapse in on us. I suddenly felt myself as frantic as she was.  
  
"What!? How? I'll be there in a minute," I heard myself saying. I needed to see Phoebe. We couldn't loose on of the strong ones.  
  
"Where are you?" I asked trying to calm down, it seemed to ease her nerves a little too. I heard her breathing slow down and she took a few deep breaths before she said anything again. "I'm at the hospital. I'm in the waiting room. One of the policemen drove me here after they took Phoebes and another guy in another car that also got hit. He looked so familiar." She trailed off and I suddenly got one of those spooky chills down my spine. Something wasn't right.  
  
"I'll be right there. Are you on your cell?"  
  
"Yeah. My number is."  
  
"I know it." I interjected. I had it saved on my phone book just in case. "I'll talk to you in a minute. Just let me get my car." I told her.  
  
"Thanks." Then there was the dial tone. I hung up, got dressed as quickly as possible, not even paying attention to what I was wearing, and sped down the street. I pushed the send button when I came to Helga's number and I heard it ring. As it rang, I thought about everything that had happened. First hearing Helga's frantic sobs nearly scared me half to death. She never acted like this. Maybe I should call Gerald when I get there. I knew how he felt about Phoebe. I gotta see Phoebe. She's just gotta be okay!  
  
"Arnold!" Someone answered making me jump a little. I remembered who I was calling just then.  
  
"Helga, I'm on my way. Any word about Phoebe?" I asked. Wow, she was acting nicer than usual. Sure, we turned Friends in fifth grade after I learned that she didn't hate me, but nothing more. I still don't know if I feel anything more for her, but that's not important now. I realized she was pausing for a while, but noticed her voice sounding far from the phone. She was obviously talking to someone, a doctor perhaps. Oh God! Please let it be good news! I realized I made it to the hospital. I went into the parking ramp and had to take a ticket. Afterwards, I ran into the waiting room. There was Helga hunched over with her head in her hands, her phone to the side of her on her jacket. A man in a white coat patting her on the shoulder. This can't be good. This means.  
  
"Arnold!" She looked up as I was coming in. She ran over and embraced me tightly. The wind was knocked out of me for a second as I recomposed myself. This was definitely not good. She dug her head into my shoulder and I wrapped my arms around her for comfort. She backed up for a second and looked into my eyes. Hers looked like the ocean completed with the waves of her tears. She was trying to say something, but nothing came out. Suddenly, that same kick in the pit of my stomach happened again. Something wasn't right. Phoebe couldn't be.  
  
"She died." The doctor said behind Helga. Her eyes over flooded with tears as she fell back into me. I felt a prickling sensation in my eyes and discovered that I too was crying. We lost one of our strengths. How could this happen? We were loosing another as well. With Helga in this condition, we were doomed for sure. She and Phoebe were the best of friends. At least Gerald was safe at.  
  
"Excuse me?" Another doctor interrupted my thoughts once again. "Do any of you know a Gerald Johansen?" I let go of Helga and she did the same. The color drained from my face and my mouth went dry. I turned around to meet eyes with the doctor.  
  
"Y-yes. I-I'm his best friend." I stuttered without realization that this was real. Could I loose my best friend too? No. I'm sure this doctor has just gotten a phone call from him wondering about Phoebe. I'm sure Helga called Gerald too. He's at home! He's sleeping.  
  
"Could you come with me?" The doctor said sullenly looking at the ground. I walked away from Helga but then felt a soft warm hand on my shoulder. I turned around to be looking face to face with her.  
  
"I'll come with you." She said barely an audible whisper. Somehow I understood her and nodded wiping tears from my eyes. We followed the doctor until he stopped at a door. Before he looked up, he sniffed, then taking a flat piece of plastic out of his pocket he said, "I found this on him. It's his driver's license. We did all we could but." My heart stopped beating the instant he said those words. Another cornerstone was destroyed. The entire structure had collapsed now with Phoebe and Gerald gone, and me and Helga in the state we were in. Tears threatened to fall again as I tried to hold them in. A tear-stricken faced Helga walked over to me and embraced me, this time giving me comfort. That broke the dam as my eyes let out streams of tears. She cried with me too. Our ship had sunk. We had to recover it, or at least parts of it. The doctor led us into the room once we became a little more stable, and after being asked if we wanted to see the bodies. We followed clutching hands which someway or another became unconsciously inseparable.  
  
We saw Gerald first. He was lying on a table with tubes and IV's sticking out of him, every which place. One look and I turned away.  
  
"Take them out." I sobbed. Helga looked at me funny, with a look of confusion in her eyes.  
  
"I mean the tubes. I don't want to remember him like that." She nodded as the doctor walked past me. I could hear rattling. Helga was holding onto my arm as she watched the doctor complete his task. Tears fell freely down her face and I brought my hand up to wipe her tears away. She looked at me, surprised no doubt. She gave me a small smile and I returned it until the doctor told me I could look again. I didn't want to. Our ship was rebuilding itself and one look at him could delay the work; but this could be the last time I say goodbye to him.  
  
I turned and looked, then walked over leaving Helga where she was and stood next to my buddy. He looked like one of those manicans you dress up at a store, so, fake and unreal. I touched his arm and the coldness reverberated to my body and produced shivers in me. A lone tear fell, then gliding down my nose it fell on his eye. For that moment the tear fell on him, he seemed more alive, as though that little moisture brought back some life in him. I smiled and touched his hand. "Take care of Phoebe man." As I took my hand in his and did our special thumb shake, I felt like he was doing it too. This was the last time that would be possible.  
  
I heard a cry of pain and anguish from an adjoining room. I looked behind me and Helga was gone. I left my friends bedside, but not before pulling the sheet over his head. I walked into the room and Helga was hunched over Phoebe's lifeless body. I let out a choked sob and just watched. If she was in the state I was, I knew how she felt. I heard her mumbling things. I could only pick out a few 'I'm sorry's' or 'you were right. I have to tell ice-cream,' or whatever that meant. She straightened up and pulled her friend's hand and placed it on her cheek so slowly. I'd never know this ship could sink. I always thought she was unsinkable. I guess I was wrong.  
  
She pulled the sheet over Phoebe's head and that's when I realized how much they meant to each other. The look in her eyes as she covered up her best friend, was not fake. I always knew Helga loved Phoebe a a friend, but it wasn't till now that I knew the strength of their friendship.  
  
Helga turned to look at me and walked over to me.  
  
"P-phoebes and I discussed something b-before the ambulance came." Helga said through soft muffled sobs. I just let her continue, to get out what she wanted to say.  
  
"S-she said if she d-died that I needed to tell you s-something." I looked at her with wide eyes. I think I know what's coming next. She walked into me and placed her hands around my neck. Subconsciously, I placed mine firmly on her waist.  
  
"I-I.love you, Arno-" and before she could finish I kissed her. Yes, this is what I predicted. I know I said earlier that I wasn't sure of my feelings towards her, but this whole experience has put her in a different light. She wasn't Helga the bully, and kind of a friend anymore. She was showing her sensitive side. The side that rarely, if ever comes out. She kissed me back with all the energy she had left in her. I wanted to stop, to tell her save her energy. But I think she wanted this more. I love her. I love Helga G. Pataki. Sure it all seems so sudden, but I think I knew it all along. I was just in denial. She broke us apart as we caught up on our breathing.  
  
"I love you Helga." I searched her eyes for a hint of surprise, but I saw none, just happiness. Maybe she knew it all along, but let me discover it on my own.  
  
Our walls were rebuilt, using all four cornerstones. Even though two were gone, they still remained in heart.  
  
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Okay, so what do you think? Please don't flame me, but I do like constructive criticism. Here's the difference:  
  
Flame: Doesn't help writer, just puts down story. Constructive criticism: Helps author write better, gives suggestions on how to make story better.  
  
Okay, so no flaming, but I do like constructive criticism. Okay, I saw Tuck Everlasting yesterday and it was so sweet! I loved the ending, such symbolism. I won't ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it. Okay, my next chapters for WWCP and The Great Search will be up by Friday night. Okay, I g2g.  
  
C ya l8ter!  
  
Arnoldnhelga4eva 


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